Apparatus for Hanging an Article

ABSTRACT

A picture-hanging device for hanging an object such as a picture or mirror that allows a picture to be adjusted vertically after securing the picture-hanging device to a wall. The device has an elongated adjustment member, an adjustable locking head that slideably engages with the elongated adjustment member, and a cable secured to either the elongated adjustment member or the adjustable locking head. The cable secures the picture to a picture-hanging device, and the height of the picture can be adjusted relative to the position of the picture-hanging device even after the picture-hanging device has been secured to a wall. This adjustable picture-hanging device allows the user to fine tune the placement of a picture without having worry about the precise placement of the picture-hanging device, or studs in a wall. The device also prevents unnecessarily drilling new holes in a wall.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional (and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §120) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/732,530,filed Jan. 2, 2013, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus useful forhanging articles, and more particularly, to an adjustable and releasabledevice having a cable, useful for hanging objects such as pictures,mirrors, small cabinets, or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hanging pictures or other items on a wall often requires precisemeasurements to ensure that a single picture is level, or that twodifferent pictures are aligned with each other. Hanging a pictureusually requires that nails, screws or other attachment devices securethe picture to the wall. However, there are problems with thetraditional method of hanging pictures. One problem is that when theuser wants to place a picture in a precise position on a wall, it may bedifficult because the hook(s) on the picture frame do not line updirectly with where the nail or screw is located. Additional problemsexist when trying to align two different pictures, because hooks ondifferent picture frames are not in the same location on the frame withrespect to the top of the picture frame. This presents a problem becausemerely aligning nails on a wall does not guarantee that the picturesthemselves will be aligned with each other. Figuring out where to put anail or screw into a wall is therefore often times consuming andtedious.

Currently, the standard way to reposition a picture that is not level orat a proper height, is to take the picture off of the wall, then removethe nail or screw from the wall, then place that nail in a differentlocation, re-hang the picture, and determine whether the picture is atthe desired height. If the picture is not at the desired height, repeatthe process all over again. This process of aligning and levelingpictures through trial error is time consuming, produces unnecessaryholes, and reduces wall strength that might ultimately need to berepaired.

Additional problems with hanging pictures in the standard way arerelated to how large pictures are hung on walls. Large pictures oftenhave multiple hooks on the frame to distribute the weight of thepicture; yet, sometimes it is not practical to place nails on a walladjacent to the frame hooks because if the hooks do not align with wallstuds, the nails would have to be inserted into weak portions of thewall without any studding. If the user tries to only place nails intowall studs, the pictures may not be in an aesthetically desiredposition, or may not be level if the nails are not symmetrically alignedwith the framing hooks. The user then has the dilemma of either hangingthe picture securely against studs (which may place the picture in anunaesthetic position), or hang the picture exactly where the user wants,but not secured against wall studding.

Another problem is that pictures are susceptible to falling off wallsduring earthquakes when hung in the traditional manner. This occursbecause hooks or wires on a picture frame do not envelop the entire nailor screw on the wall, and therefore the jolt of even a small earthquakecan cause the picture to bounce off the nail and fall to the ground.Furthermore, when pictures are secured to a wall by via means where thehooks or wire on a picture frame do not envelop the nail on a wall, thepictures are vulnerable to theft, because the pictures can easily bestolen by merely lifting the picture off a nail or screw.

Some hangers have been designed that attempt to overcome the abovementioned problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,147 to Zimmerman describes anadjustable hanging device that controls the length of a flexible linefixed at both ends for hanging objects by means of a rotatable body thatcan length or shorten a hanging wire, thereby shifting a picture up ordown on a wall. U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,425 to Ferguson describes avertically-adjustable picture-hanger having a body with a plurality ofvertically arranged teeth and an adjustable bracket such that thepicture can be placed on any one of the vertically arranged teeth. U.S.Pat. No. 8,061,054 to Rabin describes an adjustable picture-hangingdevice with an elongated strap and a pair of spaced sliders to enablemarking spots on a wall for facilitating leveling of a picture to bemounted. U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,067 to Kamenstein describes an adjustablepicture-hanging hook having a gear coupled to a hook that can adjust apicture horizontally or vertically. U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,284 to Kelrickdescribes an adjustable hanger having a rack and pinion for continuouslymoving an object horizontally and a treaded screw for continuouslymoving the object vertically. While these inventions and others allowfor adjustment of pictures on a wall, there is a continuing need forimproved hanging devices that are inexpensive to manufacture, have a lowprofile, have anti-theft and earthquake damage prevention features, allwhile allowing a user to quickly, and accurately adjust the position ofa picture with a minimum of difficulty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an adjustable apparatus for hanging anarticle. While throughout the specification the article is referred toas a picture, and the apparatus is referred to as a picture-hangingdevice, the apparatus will work on any object equipped with hanginghardware to be hung on walls or off of ceilings, such as mirrors,cabinets, and the like. It is an object of the present invention toprovide a picture-hanging device for the easy adjustability ofpositioning and leveling of a single picture, as well as aligningmultiple pictures.

Conventionally, a picture-hanging device can be as simple as a singlenail or screw. Once the nail or screw is secured to a wall, the positionof the picture hung on that wall is set because the hooks or a wire onthe back of the picture frame are pre-set on the frame. It is thereforean object of this invention to be able to adjust the height and/or tiltof a picture frame after the picture-hanging device has already beensecured to a wall without using levels, plumbs or drawings lines. Inanother object of the invention, the wall hanging device allows for afew inches of horizontal and vertical discrepancy so the holes in thewall can be placed closer or further away from each other, thusoptimizing their placement based on location of studs, or avoidingelectric wires, plumbing, etc. The picture-hanging device can be left inplace even when new pictures with differently sized frames are desired,since the picture-hanging device can be adjusted to accommodate a newframe.

To achieve these and other readily apparent objectives, the presentinvention provides an adjustable picture-hanging device that can firstbe secured to a wall or ceiling without having to worry about theprecise placement the device. The device comprises at least threestructures. A first structure is an elongated adjustment member (such asa strap, rack, or cable tie) having an attachment end and an insertionend.

A second structure of the picture-hanging device is an adjustablelocking head. The locking head is capable of slidably engaging with theelongated adjustment member when an insertion end of the elongatedadjustment member is inserted in an insertional direction through anaperture of the locking head. Within the locking head, there is alocking protrusion (such as a pawl) that is capable of engaging theelongated adjustment member such that the locking head and adjustmentmember cannot move relative to each other in a withdrawal direction, butcan move freely in an insertional direction. Also located within or onthe locking head is a releasing member (such as a tab, button, latch, orthe like) that a user can employ to preferentially release or engage theprotrusion in the locking head from the adjustment member. Theadjustable member of the locking head may be automatically engaged, ormanually engaged by the user, while the release of the adjustable memberfrom the locking head is a manual release. When the user releases thereleasing member (by pressing a tab, button, or the like), the lockinghead and the adjustment member can move freely in both the insertionaland withdrawal direction. When the releasing member is not employed bythe user, the locking head and the adjustment member cannot be movedrelative to each other at least in a withdrawal direction.

A third structure of the picture-hanging device is a cable that issecured to the locking head (alternatively, the cable can be secured tothe adjustment member). The cable connects the picture to thepicture-hanging device. When the locking head moves vertically up ordown relative to the adjustment member, the cable likewise moves up anddown relative to the elongated member. Even though the adjustment membermay be fixed to a wall, the cable holding the picture can be moved upand down, thereby raising or lowering a picture, even though thepicture-hanging device may already be fixed to the wall.

The configuration of the cable, elongated member, and locking head hasthe advantage of allowing the user first affix the adjustment member tothe wall, and then attach the locking head, cable and picture to theadjustment member. Once the picture-hanging device and picture areconnected, the user can adjust the position of the picture by slidingthe elongated member along the locking head until the desired positionis found. To remove, or readjust the picture, the user can disengage thelocking protrusion within the locking head, thereby allowing the lockinghead, cable, and picture to move in either an insertional or withdrawaldirection (i.e. up or down) relative to the fixed adjustment member onthe wall. In a one embodiment, the cable is a looped cable where twoends of the cable extend from opposite sides of the locking member. Inanother embodiment, to secure a picture, the looped cable simply wrapsaround a wire or hook on a picture frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome appreciated, as the same becomes better understood with referenceto the specification, claims and drawings herein:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a disassembled picture-hanging devicehaving an elongated attachment member, locking head, and cable attachedto a picture frame hook.

FIG. 2 is front plan view of an assembled picture-hanging device.

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of an elongated adjustment member attachedto a cable and picture frame hook for hanging a picture to a ceiling.

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of two assembled picture-hanging deviceshung on studs not aligned with frame hooks.

FIG. 5 a is a front view of an elongated adjustment strap with aplurality teeth.

FIG. 5 b is a cross section view of an elongated adjustment strap with aplurality teeth.

FIG. 6 is a locking head with side pinch release members for locking andreleasing an elongated adjustment member.

FIG. 7 a is a perspective view of a locking head with an elongated strappassing through the locking head aperture as found in the prior art.

FIG. 7 b is a side cross sectional view of a locking head with anelongated adjustment member passing through the locking head aperture asfound in the prior art.

FIG. 7 c is a front view of a locking head for use with an elongatedadjustment member in as found in the prior art.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of a locking head with a releasingmember, pawl and elongated adjustment member having a plurality ofteeth.

FIG. 9 a is a perspective view of an assembled elongated adjustablemember, looped cable, and locking head having a key release.

FIG. 9 b is a cross sectional view of an assembled elongated adjustablemember, lopped cable, and locking head, having a key release.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of theinvention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”another element, it can be directly on the other element or interveningelements may be present there between. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions,layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layersand/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms areonly used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer orsection from another element, component, region, layer or section.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of stated features, regions,integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof.

Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or“top,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship toanother elements as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understoodthat relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations ofthe device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein have the same meaning ascommonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which thisinvention belongs.

It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined incommonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningthat is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant artand the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealizedor overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein withreference to idealized embodiments of the present invention. As such,variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, forexample, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to beexpected. Thus, embodiments of the present invention should not beconstrued as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustratedherein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example,from manufacturing.

FIG. 1 depicts a disassembled picture-hanging device 10. Thepicture-hanging device 10 has an elongated adjustment member 12 thatinserts within an aperture 18 of a locking head 14. The locking head 14has a cable 20 that is connected to a hook 22 on a picture frame 24. Inthis embodiment the adjustment member 12 has an aperture 2 located on anattachment end 4 for placing a nail, hook, or screw into a wall, to fixthe adjustment member 12 against a wall. The elongated portion 11 in oneembodiment has a plurality of longitudinally spaced plurality of teeth 6that are capable of engaging with a locking protrusion, such as aprotrusion tooth of pawl 28, which resides within the aperture 18 of thelocking head 14. (Here, the locking head 14 is shown in transparency, sothe protrusion 28 can be seen). In a preferred embodiment, theadjustment member 12 can be inserted in an insertional direction andmove down freely relative to the locking head 14. However, theadjustment member 12 is prevented from being withdrawn in a withdrawaldirection by engagement of the protrusion 28 with the plurality of teeth6. The adjustment member 12 can only be withdrawn from the locking head14 when the protrusion 28 is released from engagement with the teeth 6.This release is accomplished by the user employing (either by pressing,pulling, pushing, or the like) a releasing member(s) 16 which disengagesthe protrusion 28 from the plurality of teeth 6 on the adjustment member12. The engagement and disengagement of the adjustment member 12 fromthe locking head 14 allows the user to move the locking head 14 in fineadjustable increments up or down relative to the adjustment member 12.In one embodiment, the increments, determined by the relative spacingbetween each of the plurality of teeth 6, are evenly spaced from eachother, and preferably each tooth is between 0.2 to 10 mm from eachother. In another embodiment, the relative spacing between each of theplurality of teeth 6 are between 0.5 mm and 3.0 mm.

In one embodiment, the cable 20 can be can be in the form of a loop,which extends from opposing sides 17 of the locking head 14. In thelooped embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the locking head 14 and looped cable20 are connected to the hook 22 on a picture frame 24 by using a hitchknot, such as a girth hitch (a hitch to connect two closed structures,such as the type of hitch knot used to attach luggage tags to luggage).To secure the cable 20 to the hook 22 using a girth hitch, first one endof the loop 20 is inserted under the hook 22 (or if there is a wireacross the frame, the one end of the loop 20 can be inserted under thewire). Next, the locking head 14 is drawn through the free end of theloop 20 in an over-under manner and pulled taught, thereby securing thelocking head 14 to the picture frame 24 via the cable 20 and framinghook 22. Other methods of connecting the cable 20 to the picture 26include the use of a strap hitch, cow hitch, lark's head hitch orlanyard hitch.

There are several advantages over the prior art in this embodiment. Oneadvantage is that when the adjustment member 12 is secured to the wallvia a nail or screw 162 (as illustrated in FIG. 2), the distance betweenthe picture frame 24 and the nail 162 can still be varied by moving theadjustment member 12 up or down relative to the locking head 14. Theadjustment member 12 and the locking head 14 can move relative to eachother when the user employs a releasing member 16 to disengage theprotrusion 28 from the plurality of teeth 6 on the adjustment member 12.This is advantageous because unlike the traditional method of hanging apicture (where once a picture is secured to a nail on a wall, theposition of the picture cannot be changed without placing the nail in adifferent location), here, the height of the picture can be adjustedafter nailing the adjustment member 12 to the wall.

Another advantage of this device is that nail 162 that fixes theadjustment member 12 to the wall does not need to be placed in a preciselocation in order for the picture frame 24 to be placed in a specificlocation at a later time. The user can adjust the relative distancebetween the screw 162 and picture 26 after the adjustment member 12 hasbeen fixed to the wall. Still another advantage is that thepicture-hanging device 10, prevents the picture 26 from falling off thewall during an earthquake. Unlike the traditional method of securing apicture to a wall where a screw 162 directly attaches to the hook 22 ofthe picture 26, which would allow a picture to be lifted and removed (orpop off a wall during an earthquake), in this embodiment, the cable 20is secured around the hook 22 and cannot be disengaged from the picturehanging device 10 without either releasing the locking head 14 byemploying the releasing member 16, or by reversing the hitch of thelooped cable 20.

FIG. 2 depicts an assembled picture-hanging device 160 where theelongated member 12 is secured to a wall by a nail or screw 162. Theelongated member 12 is secured within the locking head 14 and can onlybe released by the user pressing releasing members 16 (here, depicted asside tabs). As in FIG. 1, the locking head 14 is secured to a framinghook 22 (here depicted without the picture 26 or picture frame 24 ofFIG. 1), using a girth hitch. In this embodiment, the locking head 14can move up relative to the elongated member 12 (in an insertionaldirection), thereby raising the picture. The locking head 14 cannot movedown relative to the elongated member (in a withdrawal direction)without the user pressing the side tabs 16, which disengage a protrusion28 from the plurality of teeth 6, as described and illustrated ingreater detail in FIGS. 7-9.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of a picture-hanging device 40. Inthis embodiment, instead of attaching the picture 26 to a wall, thepicture 26 is attached via ceiling hardware 32 to a ceiling 30. In thisembodiment, the locking head 14 hangs from the ceiling hardware 32 via adecorative rope or chain 34 or other attachment device. In analternative to the embodiments of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 where the loopedcable 20 is attached to the locking head 14, here, the looped cable 20is attached to the adjustment member 12. Similar to the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the looped cable 20 then can secure the picture 26 by using anyone of a variety of hitches. The picture 26 may be suspended from theceiling 30, and adjusted vertically by inserting the adjustment member12 though an aperture 18 of the locking head 14. The embodiment of FIG.3 has a protrusion in the locking head 14 that prevents the adjustmentmember 12 from being withdrawn once the adjustment member 12 has beeninserted. The locking head 14 may be adjusted up or down relative to theadjustment member 12 by having the user press a releasing member 16 thatdisengages the protrusion (such as a pawl) from the adjustment member12. In other embodiments for a ceiling hanging picture-hanging device,the elongated member 12 may be attached to the ceiling hardware 32 viathe decorative rope 24, instead of the locking head 14 (i.e., thepositions of locking head 14 and elongated adjustment member 12 areswitched). This type of arrangement where the apparatus 40 secured tothe ceiling 30 would be advantageous when a picture cannot hang on awall, such as for use in galleries that wish to have artwork whereviewers can see the art from all sides.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of two apparatuses 130 for hanging adual-hooked picture useful for securing a picture 26 to studs 142, 144that are not aligned with framing hooks 22, 23 on the frame 24 of thepicture 26. In this embodiment, there is a first picture-hanging device140 and a second picture-hanging device 150. The first picture-hangingdevice 140 is secured to a first stud 142 and the second picture-hangingdevice 150 is secured to a second stud 144. Here, the studs, 142, 144are not aligned with the hooks 22, 23 of the picture 26. The advantageof this embodiment is that the two picture hanging devices 140, 150 canbe individually tilted and adjusted to have the picture 26 perfectlylevel even though the nails or screws 162 are not aligned with the hooks22, 23 on the picture 26. This configuration is especially advantageousfor heavy paintings in art galleries, where the paintings need to bemounted to studs 142, 144, and cannot be mounted in direct alignmentwith the hooks 22, 23. Another advantage is that each attachment device140, 150 can be individually adjusted so that the picture 26 can belevel. Still another advantage of this configuration is that the picturehanging devices 140, 150 can be reused in the same position on the studs142, 144 for other pictures that may need different alignments. In thissituation, when the user needs to replace the painting with anotherpainting (which may require a different height placement) no new holesin a wall would have to be created, since the new painting can use thesame picture-hanging devices 140, 150, and these devices can bevertically adjusted by moving the locking head 14 up or down theelongated member 12 as previously described and illustrated in FIGS.1-4.

A detailed description of the first structure, an elongated adjustmentmember 12, of the picture-hanging device will now be described. Variousembodiments of elongated adjustment members 12 have been described inthe prior art. One such type of elongated adjustment member is a cabletie strap, also known as a zip tie. Examples of cable ties include thosedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,444 to Bailey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,509to McCormick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,728 to Woods, U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,591to Hopkins, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,791 to Khokhar, all herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety. Elongated adjustmentmembers may be of a kind that has beaded protrusions along a flexibleelongated strip, or a series of ladder and rung-like structures capableof securing a locking head to the elongated adjustment member with apawl that is insertable between rungs.

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b illustrate an embodiment of a elongated adjustablemember that is a cable tie 12. Cable ties, also called zip ties are atype of fastener often used for binding cables or wires together. Theyare traditional made from nylon, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride,various plastics, synthetic polymers, metals, or other materials. In oneembodiment, a cable tie 12 has an insertion end 8, an attachment end 4,and an aperture 2 for securing the cable tie 12 to a wall by inserting anail or screw through the aperture to secure the cable tie 12 to thewall. In this embodiment, the cable tie 12 have a plurality of teeth 6that slope downward in one direction. Here, the plurality of teeth 6 area linear rack of teeth that are a series of transverse ratchetserrations which lie on a common plan to cooperate and permit passage ofthe free end 8 of a cable tie 12 through a locking head. The sloping ofeach tooth 6 allows for movement of the tie 12 in one direction wheninserted through a locking head having a protruding tooth (such as apawl), but not in the reverse direction direction. Each tooth 6 has apointed angled top edge 104, a substantially vertical plane 108 formingthe height of each tooth 6, and a downward sloping plane 106 thatconnects the pointed angled top edge 104 of one tooth 6 to the bottom ofthe substantially vertical plane 108 of an adjacent tooth 6. The angledteeth 6, allow for a protrusion tooth 28 within a locking head (SeeFIGS. 7-9) to slide through in an insertional direction, but preventsthe cable tie 12 from being withdrawn in a reverse direction. Aprotrusion in the locking head 14 allows movement in an insertionaldirection but prevents subsequent withdrawal of the cable tie 12 in theopposite withdrawal direction. If a user attempts to withdraw the cabletie 12 from a locking head, back-tension is applied the substantiallyvertical plane 108 of one or more teeth 6 of the cable tie 12 againstthe protrusion (such as a pawl, as depicted in FIGS. 7-9) in the lockinghead 14, which prevents withdrawal of the cable tie 12 from the lockinghead 14. In this embodiment, the elongated portion 10 of the cable tie12 has a marginal plain portion 102, which is not serrated. Thisnon-serrated portion allows the cable tie strap 12 to be pulled throughthe locking head 14 more easily.

A detailed description of the second structure of the picture-hangingdevice, a locking head, will not be described more fully. Several typesof locking heads for cable ties have been previously described in theprior, in the U.S. patents describing cable ties referenced above. Inone embodiment of a locking head 70, as illustrated in FIG. 6, thelocking head 70 has releasing members 72 that are side pinch tabs. Whenthese side tabs 72 are pressed, the aperture 18 within the locking head70, increase in size by separating the holding tabs 76 which form arounda cable tie that is inserted within the aperture 18 of the locking head.By increasing the size of the aperture 18 when pressing the side tabs72, the user can slide the cable tie 12 (as depicted in FIGS. 1-5) ineither an insertion or withdrawal direction because the increasedaperture 18 allows the plurality of teeth 6 to be lifted away from theprotruding tooth 76, which holds the cable tie in a locked position whenthe side pinch tabs 72 are not pressed. This type of locking head isadvantageous for adjusting the position of a picture on a wall becauseof the ease of releasing the cable tie 12 from the grip of the lockinghead 70. Here, while one hand presses the releasing side tabs 72, theother hand can adjust the relative position cable tie 12 (which isattached to a looped cable 20 and a picture 26) to the locking head 70.

FIGS. 7 a-c depict another embodiment of an elongated adjustment memberand locking head with cable 50 that may be used to hang a picture. Here,the elongated strap 13 does not have any transverse ratcheting teeth(such as the teeth in a cable tie), but is easily secured in a lockedposition by pressure from a protrusion 54 within the locking head 57.U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,591 to Hopkins discloses such an elongated strap andlocking head without a looped cable 20 for hanging a picture, and ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIGS. 7 a-c depictperspective, cross sectional and front views of this embodiment,respectively. In this embodiment the picture-hanging device 50 has a topreleasing member 52, which is attached to the locking head 57 via pivotattachments 60, which as hinges on side walls 58 of the locking head 57.This allows the releasing tab 52 to swivel into a locked position (whenthe tab 52 is down) and an unlocked position (when the tab 52 is up).Here, the elongated adjustment member 13 is a compressible flexiblestrap 13. When in the locked position, at least one protrusion 54 on thereleasing tab 52 clamps down and presses against the strap 13 (asdepicted in FIGS. 7 a and 7 b), which may be made of rubber, nylon, orother natural or synthetic material. The strap 13 is inserted in anaperture 18 within the locking head 57, and the strap 13 is locked inposition the protrusion 54 compressing the strap, thereby locking thestrap 13 in place within the locking head 57. In this embodiment, thestrap 13 is freely movable in either a withdrawal direction orinsertional direction when the protrusions 54 are disengaged from thestrap 13 (as depicted in FIG. 7 c without the strap 13), but is lockedwithin the locking head when the releasing tab 52 is in its down lockedposition (as shown in FIGS. 7 a and 7 b). To hang a picture, the lockinghead 57 is secured to a looped cable 20. As previously described inFIGS. 1-5 to wrap around a hook (as previously described and illustratedin FIGS. 1-4).

FIG. 8 depicts another embodiment of picture-hanging device 90. In thisembodiment the locking head 14 has a center releasing member 16, and anaperture 18 for insertion of an elongated adjustable member 12 (such asa cable tie strap). Within the locking head 14 is a protrusion that is apawl 28, The pawl 28 has a pawl tip 15, which nestles between the teeth6 of the elongated adjustable member 12. In this embodiment, theadjustable member 12 cannot be withdrawn from the locking head 14 whenthe tip 15 of the pawl 28 nestled between the plurality of teeth 6 onadjustable elongated member 12 because of the back-tension of the pawlagainst the teeth (as previously discussed in reference to FIG. 5).Here, the user can pull the elongated member 12 in an insertionaldirection with ease because the tip 15 of the protruding tooth 28 of thelocking head 14 slides past the teeth 6 of the elongated member 12because the angle of the tip 15 matches the angle of the teeth 6. Asexemplified in FIG. 5 b in conjunction with FIG. 8, the top 15 ofprotrusion 28 within the locking head 14 slides over the downwardsloping plane 106, and then nestles with groove between the teeth 6 ofthe elongated member 12.

When the elongated member 12 continues to be pulled in an insertionaldirection, the protruding tooth 28 can be drawn past the pointed angledtop edge 104 of the next tooth 6 of the elongated member 12.

The elongated member 12 is substantially prevented from being pulledback in a withdrawal direction because the protruding tooth 28 pressesagainst substantially vertical plane 108 of each of the plurality ofteeth 6 (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,791 to Khokhar, herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety). The user can slide theelongated member 12 in either the insertional or withdrawal directionwhen the protruding tooth 28 of the locking head 14 is disengaged fromthe plurality of teeth 6 when user pressed a the releasing tab 16. Bypressing the releasing tab 16 down, the pawl 28 pivots around a pivotingmember 92, and raises the tip 15 of the pawl 28 away from the elongatedmember 12 and out of the grooves of the plurality of teeth 6, therebyallowing the elongated strap 12 to move freely in either an insertionalor withdrawal direction relative to the locking head 14. As previouslydescribed and illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, when the when a looped cable 20is attached to the locking head, and the looped cable 20 is secured to apicture 26, the picture 26 can be raised or lowered by moving theelongated strap 12 relative to the locking head 14.

FIGS. 9 a and 9 b depict an embodiments of a picture-hanging device 120having a key 122 for locking and releasing an elongated strap 12 to alocking head 14 found in the prior art. Locking heads with insertablekeys have been described in the prior art. Examples include U.S. Pat.No. 5,377,510 to Smith, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,474 to Tobacchi, bothhereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. In FIG. 9 a, a key122 is inserted into a keyhole 124 located on one side of the lockinghead 14. When the key 122 is rotated, one or more than one protrudingteeth 28 are lifted away from the grooves between the plurality of teeth6 on the elongated member 12 via a pawl-lifting member 126 (asillustrated in FIG. 9 b), thereby disengaging the protruding teeth 28 ofthe locking head 14 from the plurality of teeth 6 on the elongatedmember 12. Disengagement allows the elongated member 12 to move freelyin either an insertional direction or a withdrawal direction. When thekey 122 is not turned or inserted, the pawl-lifting member 126 allowsthe protruding teeth 28 to nestle within the grooves of the plurality ofteeth on the elongated member 12. In this embodiment, a picture 26 canbe attached to the locking head 14 via a cable 20, as previouslydescribed and illustrated in FIG. 1. This embodiment is advantageous forart galleries or other places concerned with theft because the keyrelease makes it difficult for a thief to easily remove a painting froma wall by merely lifting the painting of a wall secured only with a nailor screw, or pressing release tab. Here, in order to remove the paintingwithout a key, the thief would either have to cut the looped cable 20,or elongated member 12 in order to remove the artwork. While thisembodiment does not prevent theft entirely, it blocks the casual thieffrom simply lifting a painting off of a hook, or pressing a release tabto remove a painting.

While the invention has been described in terms of exemplaryembodiments, it is to be understood that the words which have been usedare words of description and not of limitation. As is understood bypersons of ordinary skill in the art, a variety of modifications can bemade without departing from the scope of the invention defined by thefollowing claims, which should be given their fullest, fair scope.

I claim:
 1. An adjustable picture-hanging device for enablingtwo-dimensional adjustment of a hanging article, comprising: a. anelongated adjustment member having an attachment end and an insertionend; b. an adjustable locking head, wherein said locking head and saidelongated adjustment member are capable of slideably engaging with eachother, said locking head having: i. an aperture for insertion of saidinsertion end of said elongated adjustment member, ii. a lockingprotrusion capable of preventing said locking head from moving relativeto said elongated adjustment member when said locking protrusion isengaged with said elongated adjustment member, iii. a releasing memberthat disengages said locking protrusion from said elongated adjustmentmember thereby permitting said locking head to move in an insertionaland withdrawal direction relative to said elongated adjustment member;c. a cable secured to said elongated adjustment member, whereby saidcable connects said hanging article to said picture-hanging device;whereby said hanging article can be adjusted to a desired height byadjusting the relative position between said elongated adjustment memberand said locking head, notwithstanding a fixed position of saidadjustable locking head.
 2. The adjustable picture-hanging device ofclaim 1, further comprising a second cable secured to said adjustablelocking head, whereby said second cable secures said adjustable lockinghead to a structure on a ceiling for hanging a picture.
 3. Thepicture-hanging device of claim 1, wherein said elongated adjustmentmember comprises a plurality of protrusions.
 4. The picture-hangingdevice of claim 1, wherein said locking protrusion of said locking headis a pawl.
 5. The picture-hanging device of claim 4, wherein saidplurality of protrusions are a plurality of teeth longitudinally alignedfor engaging said locking protrusion of said adjustment head.
 6. Thepicture-hanging device of claim 5, wherein said plurality of teeth areevenly spaced from each other.
 7. The picture-hanging device of claim 5,wherein spacing between each tooth of said plurality of teeth is between0.5 mm and 3.0 mm from each other.
 8. The picture-hanging device ofclaim 1, wherein said elongated adjustment member is a flexibleelongated strap.
 9. The picture-hanging device of claim 1, wherein saidelongated adjustment member comprises an aperture within said attachmentend for securing said elongated adjustment member to a wall.
 10. Thepicture-hanging device of claim 1, wherein said cable is a loopedflexible cable.
 11. The picture-hanging device of claim 1, wherein saidelongated adjustment member comprises a linear rack of teeth, wherebysaid locking protrusion of said locking head engages with said linearrack to prohibit relative movement between said elongated adjustmentmember and said locking head in a withdrawal direction while permittingrelative movement in an insertional direction.
 12. The picture-hangingdevice of claim 1, wherein said locking head comprises a keyhole forinsertion of a releasing key, whereby rotating a key within said keyholeallows said elongated adjustment member to move freely in an insertionalor withdrawal direction.
 13. The picture-hanging device of claim 1,wherein said elongated adjustment member is a beaded flexible strap. 14.The picture-hanging device of claim 1, wherein said elongated adjustmentmember and said locking head are made from a synthetic polymer.
 15. Thepicture-hanging device of claim 5, wherein said releasing memberdisengages said pawl from said plurality of teeth when said releasingmember is depressed by a user.